The voice portion of the early warning system located somewhere near Roach Middle School on Independence Blvd. is nothing but loud static. The siren sounds and when the voice message comes on it is nothing but static, totally unintelligible, and relaying no information about the reason for the alarm. It has been this way for several months.

We appreciate your comments about the Outdoor Warning Siren in the area of Roach Middle School.

We conducted our normal weekly testing on the siren today. We had firefighters on site listening to the siren and they did report static during the audible transmissions. We have contacted the repair service and they will be here on Thursday to verify the problem.

The intent of the outdoor warning sirens is to alert citizens who are outside, of an immediate threat and the need to seek shelter immediately. Due to the fact that these sirens are designed to warn those who are outdoors, they may not be audible inside a home, office or other structure that was built to deter outdoor noises. There are, however, several resources we urge our citizens to utilize during bad weather. We recommend tuning your AM radio to station 820 or depending on your cable or satellite vendor, accessing your cable TV channel 12 (Grande), Channel 16 (Time-Warner), Channel 37 (Verizon FIOS), Channel 99 (AT&T U-verse). Also we recommend purchasing a NOAA weather radio as well as monitoring local media news stations. Here you will find specific instructions broadcast either from the National Weather Service, local meteorologists or the City of Frisco regarding the severe weather warning affecting our area.

Please remember, due to acoustics, the sirens do not transmit voice commands as far, nor as clearly, as the actual siren wail itself. When there is a large amount of rain or high winds present, the audible can get disrupted. Therefore, we do not announce an “all clear” over the public address system. Rather, we utilize the sirens as intended, as a warning, and continue to sound the sirens throughout the danger phase. When the sirens cease to sound, the danger for those outdoors has passed.

We will continue to monitor the siren during our weekly testing. We are in the process of upgrading the radio system. Once the upgrade is completed, within the next three to four months, there will be a noticeable difference in the siren’s audible capabilities.

We appreciate your feedback and concern and will keep you informed of its repair.